A surefire way to keep horror fans entertained is to have their favorite characters return again and again for sequel after sequel, with the most recent example being 2022's Scream 5. Sequels, remakes, and reboots, are some ways to not only keep favorite horror villains in business, but to do better and fix mistakes and errors left over from their predecessors.

The attitude of "improvise, adapt, overcome" can be seen in several different horror franchises, as many characters grow and evolve with each new entry. Some horror characters might have begun life as masked murderers or one-dimensional demons, but they soon learned to work smarter and not harder.

The Shark (Jaws)

The shark attacking the Banana Boat in Jaws The Revenge

Just because a character can come back for a sequel doesn't mean they will come back better. In the case of the Jaws franchise, a new shark appears in each different film. However, the fact that the carnivorous killer in the third movie is actually capable of desiring revenge makes it smarter than the average predator.

Most sharks seem to have somewhat of a one-track mind: swim, eat, and repeat, but not in the case of Jaws: The Revenge. A great white going after the family that killed the first two sharks is more than a little far-fetched, but it does imply an improved level of intelligence not seen with the other creatures of its species.

Ghostface (Scream Series)

Ghostface stands in a hallway in Scream 2022

It's not so much that Ghostface got more intelligent as the series progressed, but rather that the identity of the masked serial killer became more complex with each new iteration. Everyone who assumed the mask, robe, and hunting knife in Wes Craven's meta-horror thriller had some connection with Sydney Prescott and her mother, and the tangled web of deception only expanded with each new movie.

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It might have convoluted the plot on more than one occasion, but the idea of a slasher villain being a constantly changing entity/identity was a novel idea for the time. With the different identities, Ghostface was also given different techniques and even technology to enact his/her acts of evil throughout the series.

Jigsaw (Saw Series)

Tobin Bell as Jigsaw

Whether it's John Kramer or any one of the other Jigsaw apprentices, the traps and plots of the Saw series only got more difficult and elaborate with each new chapter in the lengthy franchise. With nine films in the core series, filmmakers practically had to go bigger and better with each torture device to keep drawing in crowds.

The original Jigsaw was already a highly-intelligent horror villain, using his engineering skills to create his famous traps. Each new iteration of his deadly game only served to remind viewers just how brilliant and twisted his mind could be.

Toulon’s Puppets (Puppet Master Series)

Jester looking creepy from Puppet Master

With the exception of Blade, the magically-animated puppets of Andre Toulon are typically only as evil or as intelligent as the party that brings them to life. That said, these menacing marionettes can be capable of devastating deaths and fiendish plots whenever someone mishandles them or does them wrong.

Blade might be the most tenacious of the group, but Jester is billed as the brains of the outfit. Either way, the troupe of creepy puppets is far more devious and tactical than others seen in their subgenre. Even Chucky would have a difficult time against these tiny terrors.

Candyman (Candyman Series)

Candyman rips out of a screen as a shadow puppet

The saga of the Candyman has come a long way since Clive Barker first put it to paper, and Daniel Robitaille has evolved along with his tragic narrative. With the exception of Candyman 3: Day of the Dead, which was just a trashy and gratuitous slasher film, Candyman became a more fleshed-out character and the introduction of different magical elements made him harder to defeat.

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The finest example of his progression and evolution is the one seen in Nia Costa and Jordan Peele's interpretation, making him not one singular entity but a hive mind of vengeful spirits. Compared to the original '90s classic, Candyman has become much more than just a hook-handed killer in someone's campfire story.

Leatherface (The Texas Chainsaw Massacre Series)

Leatherface in the doorway in the 2003 remake.

Despite his reputation, Michael Bay is actually one of the key figures responsible for the evolution of Leatherface. When he first began his career, Leatherface was a masked, muscular meathead who was simply the pawn for his cannibal family. After being reimagined as a more menacing presence, Leatherface has been everything from a recluse to a vengeful murderer with a penchant for masks and chainsaws.

The original Leatherface wasn't a dope, per se, but he wasn't acting of his own machinations. Although he is by no means a mastermind in the grand scheme of things, he's not the horror movie henchman he was when he first premiered.

Xenomorphs (Alien Series)

The xenomorph from the 1979 horror movie Alien.

The Xenomorph of Ridley Scott's Alien franchise is supposed to be the galaxy's most deadly predator, and there have been several variations and augmentations made to the species to better solidify that fact. Xenomorph hybrids can come in a multitude of flavors from canine to Engineer, but it's the evolved humanoid and crossbred forms that crawl their way to the top of the food chain.

The original seen in the 1979 production will always be the standard, but watching the creature form hybrids with other beings like the Predator is a geneticist's dream and a viewer's nightmare. AVP might not have been the most critically successful series, but it unleashed a creature with the voraciousness of the original but the dangerous intellect of its nemesis.

The Predator (Predator Series)

A Predator illuminated in shadow.

Far more humanly intelligent than their insectoid prey, the Predators/Yautja are all about the thrill of the hunt, and their franchise displays a steady line of progression with new techniques, technologies, and even an increase in their numbers. From being an alien menace that fought Arnold Schwarzenegger to a tribe of intergalactic killers, the creatures have had a tremendous amount of development in their existence.

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The Predators have even experimented on themselves to become the apex hunters of the galaxy, and even developed a reputation of picking off Xenomorphs for sport. Clearly, they've cultivated their place in the sci-fi horror genre.

Dr. Herbert West (Reanimator)

The scientist of Reanimator doing experiments

While Dr. West isn't the main antagonist in the series, Dr. West is far from a heroic character. From Frankenstein to Crimes of the Futurethere is a multitude of films where the true monster is science or the scientist in charge of horrific practices and experiments, and no one knew that better than H.P. Lovecraft.

As with most scientific experiment scenarios, the more the experiment is perfected, the more the researchers learn. Ergo, Dr. West goes from simply reanimating corpses and severed heads to bringing a whole host of undead to life. Mad scientists are a classic horror trope for a reason, after all.

Jason Voorhees (Friday The 13th Series)

Jason image with hand out and chain around his neck.

Similar to Leatherface, but to a far more drastic extent, Jason Voorhees has come a long way from his early days as Camp Crystal Lake's resident slasher. Since his first full-fledged appearance in Part II, Jason has been a murderous hermit, a zombie, a cyborg, a survivalist, a ghost, and everything in between.

Like Leatherface, Michael Bay's adaptation breathed new life into the character by not only bringing him back to the big screen but giving him a huge intelligence boost. The rebooted Jason isn't just a hulking mass of muscle in a mask, but a survivor who knows how to set traps and tripwires for hapless campers that wander into his woods.

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